Camera ‘sees’ radiation, assesses danger levels

Whenever you are around Bruce Banner and carry a Geiger counter, expect it to go nuts when Banner gets angry – simply because he turns into the Incredible Hulk, torn pants and all. Well, a Geiger counter might be good to detect the presence of radiation levels, but here is a more accurate device that might come in handy in situations such as the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan, where this particular camera can ‘see’ radiation levels while assessing the amount of danger that a human might be in. The brainchild of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), this prototype ‘Super-wide Angle Compton Camera’ can create images of gamma ray-emitting radioactive particles, and is also capable of detecting particles that have widely dispersed on the ground and residential houses. This means those in the Fukushima area, working to clear up the situation, can rely on this camera to pinpoint the normally invisible threat – which is definitely a good thing, no?